Robust group III light emitting diode for high reliability in standard packaging applications

ABSTRACT

A physically robust light emitting diode is disclosed that offers high-reliability in standard packaging and that will withstand high temperature and high humidity conditions. The diode comprises a Group III nitride heterojunction diode with a p-type Group III nitride contact layer, an ohmic contact to the p-type contact layer, and a sputter-deposited silicon nitride composition passivation layer on the ohmic contact. A method of manufacturing a light emitting diode and an LED lamp incorporating the diode are also disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.10/145,222, filed May 14, 2002 (the '222 application). The '222application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/920,409, filed Aug. 29, 1997, the contents of which are incorporatedentirely herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to light emitting diodes and in particularrelates to such diodes formed from Group III nitrides suitable forstandard packaging applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A light emitting diode is a p-n junction device that converts electricalenergy into optical radiation. In particular, under properforward-biased conditions LED's emit external spontaneous radiation inthe ultraviolet, visible, and infra-red regions of the electromagneticspectrum.

As known to those familiar with the visible and near-visible portions ofthe electromagnetic spectrum and their characteristics, shorterwavelengths of light (such as blue and ultraviolet) represent higherfrequency, higher energy transitions, and longer wavelengths (such asred and infra-red) represent lower frequency, lower energy transitions.

Thus, with respect to light emitting diodes, the particular portion ofthe spectrum in which they emit—i.e., their color—is based upon theenergy of the transitions that create the emissions. In turn, the energyof the transitions is determined to a great extent by the bandgap of theparticular material. Thus, in order for a light emitting diode to emitin the blue or ultraviolet portions of the spectrum, the bandgap of thesemiconductor material must be large enough (wide enough) to support atransition with sufficient energy to produce blue or ultraviolet light

Accordingly, the candidate materials for light emitting diodes in theblue and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum are limited to certain widebandgap materials such as diamond, silicon carbide (SiC) and Group IIInitrides; e.g., binary, ternary and quaternary nitrides formed from theGroup III elements of the periodic table such as gallium nitride (GaN),indium gallium nitride (InGaN), and aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN).

Recent development work in the field of blue LEDs has focused moreclosely on the Group III nitrides because of their wide bandgaps andtheir characteristics as direct, rather than indirect, transitionmaterials. As is well understood by those of ordinary skill in this art,a direct band gap material tends to offer higher efficiency because itsenergy conversion is predominantly in the form of light (a photon)rather than partially as light and partially as vibrational energy (aphonon).

A more extensive discussion of the structure, quantum mechanics, andoperation of LEDs and other photonic devices is set forth in Sze,Physics of Semiconductor Materials, 2d Edition (1981, John Wiley & Sons,Inc), and its companion, Sze, Modern Semiconductor Device Physics (1998,John Wiley & Sons, Inc ). These principles are generally well understoodin this art and will not be repeated herein other than as necessary toexplain and support the claimed invention.

In a basic sense, a light emitting diode generally includes two layersof opposite conductivity type material which together form a p-njunction. These materials are typically in the form of epitaxial layerson a substrate. Most desirably an ohmic contact is made to the substrateand to the top epitaxial layer to form a “vertical” device for optimumefficiency in packaging.

In this regard, an LED is often packaged for end use in the form of anLED lamp. A typical LED lamp includes an LED chip (or “die”, the term“chip” often being used to describe an integrated circuit rather than anLED) and a plastic (or sometimes glass) lens. For some LEDs the lens iscolored to serve as an optical filter and to enhance contrast, but forblue LEDs the lens is preferably colorless so as to avoid interferencewith the desired blue emission. Typical lamp configurations are wellknown to those of ordinary skill in this art and are set forth forexample, in Sze, Physics of Semiconductor Materials, supra at pages697-700. Typically, once an LED chip is packaged as a lamp, it can beused for a variety of applications such as indicators and alpha numericdisplays.

There are some specific considerations, however, that apply to certaintypes of devices. For example, Group III nitride devices are typicallyformed on either sapphire or silicon carbide substrates. Silicon carbidesubstrates are preferred in many circumstances because silicon carbide(SiC) can be conductively doped. Thus, a silicon carbide substrate canform the basis for a “vertical” device with “top” and “bottom” ohmiccontacts. In contrast, the insulating character of sapphire prevents itsuse in vertical devices.

In turn, n-type SiC substrates tend to be preferred over p-typesubstrates because n-type SiC is generally more conductive and transmitsmore light.

As a result, a Group III nitride device on a silicon carbide substratetypically includes an n-type substrate, an n-type buffer layer (orcombination of layers), an n-type epitaxial layer, and a p-type contactlayer (e.g., GaN) on the “top” of the device.

The development, commercial introduction, and use of such Group IIInitride LEDs is relatively recent. Accordingly, it has been determinedthat in commercial use (the term “commercial” generally refers, but isnot limited, to a product that is manufactured and sold on an inventorybasis), they suffer from particular types of physical and chemicalbreakdown that eventually degrade the electronic performance of thedevices. More specifically, it has become apparent that under normalenvironmental conditions, in which LED lamps are operated at or aboveroom temperature and under normal conditions of humidity and otherenvironmental factors, the epitaxial layers, ohmic contacts andassociated passivation layers tend to interact with one anotherresulting in degraded optical and electrical performance. Thedegradation problem appears to be particularly acute in those devicesthat include p-type GaN as their top layer, with an ohmic contact tothat p-type layer.

A particular form of degradation that is highly undesirable in LED lampsis an increase in forward voltage over time (V_(F) degradation).“Forward voltage” refers to the voltage that must be applied across theterminals of an LED to cause it to emit light. V_(F) degradation canlead to higher operating temperatures and increased power consumptionover the life of the device.

Thus, in some commercial versions of blue LEDs made from Group IIInitrides, the packaging itself is very specific and robust because theLED chip being packaged is relatively fragile even under normalenvironmental circumstances. For example, in the NSPG630S device fromNichia Chemical Industries of Tokushima, Japan, the p-type layer, theohmic contact, and the passivation layer are coated with a flexibletransparent polymeric material and then encapsulated in a hard resinsuch as an epoxy-based polymer.

For instance, in European Published Application No. 0 622 858 (“Galliumnitride based Ill-V group compound semiconductor device and method ofproducing the same”), Nakamura et al. report that, “(t)he p-electrode(to the p-type gallium nitride) may be formed of any suitable metallicmaterial” (page 6, line 7). Nakamura goes on to list eight candidatemetals (Au, Ni, Pt, Al, Sn, In, Cr, and Ti) and names a nickel and goldcombination (page 6, lines 10-12 and 33-35) as the preferred selection.Furthermore, in selecting a passivation layer (“protective film”),Nakamura offers some merely general criteria (“The material forming theprotective film is not particularly limited, as long as it istransparent, and electrically insulative.” Page 9, lines 31-32).Nakamura then goes on to list four candidate materials: silicon dioxide(SiO₂), titanium oxide (TiO), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), and Siliconnitride (SiN).

The more widespread introduction of GaN-based LEDs has demonstrated,however, that such a general selection of materials is inappropriate,and that the resulting LEDs degrade much more rapidly than is otherwiseappropriate for useful commercial devices. In particular, LEDs that: (1)include a top epitaxial layer of p-type GaN; (2) use ohmic contactsformed from certain metals (or their combinations) such as titanium andgold (“Ti/Au”); and (3) use silicon dioxide (SiO₂) as the passivationlayer, tend to exhibit more rapid degradation than is commerciallyacceptable. More specifically, it appears that the water-permeability ofSiO₂ allows sufficient moisture to reach the p-electrode to degrade theelectrode and eventually the entire device relatively quickly.

As noted above, sophisticated packaging offers one option for protectinga relatively fragile die structure. In order to obtain their fullestcommercial potential, however, blue LEDs formed from Group III nitridesmust be manufactured in such a manner that they can be incorporated inmore common lamp packages analogous to the lamp packages used formaterials that are less esoteric than Group III nitrides.

Although the devices described in the '409 application demonstratedimproved capabilities, some degradations problems persist.

Accordingly, a continuing need exists for a robust LED chip that can bepackaged in normal fashion and yet which will successfully withstandboth normal and elevated temperature and humidity conditions, for a timeperiod sufficient to make the devices useful in a wide variety ofcommercial applications.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF TH INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention include a diode that comprises a Group IIIheterojunction diode with a p-type Group III nitride (and preferablygallium nitride) contact layer, an ohmic contact to the p-type contactlayer, and a sputter-deposited silicon nitride passivation layer on theohmic contact.

In another aspect, the invention comprises an LED lamp formed of thelight emitting diode and a plastic lens.

In another aspect, the invention comprises a method of manufacturing anLED comprising the steps of: forming a buffer layer on a substrate,forming an active region on the buffer layer, forming a p-type contactlayer on the active region, forming a metal contact on the contactlayer, and sputter-depositing a silicon nitride passivation layer on themetal contact.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become morereadily apparent upon consideration of the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a photograph of a gallium nitride based light emitting diode;

FIG. 2 is a second, somewhat more enlarged photograph of the galliumnitride based light emitting diode of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective schematic view of an LED according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an LED lamp that incorporates the diode ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a sputtering chamber.

FIG. 6 is a plot of V_(F) versus anneal temperature LED die processedwith PECVD SiN deposition on the one hand and sputtered SiN on theother.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic view of a pixel formed according to thepresent invention and shown as one of a plurality of pixels in adisplay.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is a physically robust light emitting diode thatoffers high reliability in standard packaging and will withstand hightemperature and high humidity conditions.

As noted in the background, ohmic contacts must be protected fromphysical, mechanical, environmental and packaging stresses to preventdegradation of Group III nitride LEDs.

In this regard, FIG. 1 is a photograph of an entire LED (“die”). In thedevice of FIG. 1 the passivation layer of silicon dioxide (glass) hasbeen removed except around the outside edge of the die. The portionswhere glass is still present are generally indicated by the spotted orstained-appearing portions around the perimeter of the generally squaredie. This mottled appearance results from a varying gap of air under theglass as it delaminates from the die. In the die illustrated in FIG. 1,the delamination begins at about the three o'clock position (movingclockwise) and reaches approximately the 11:00 o'clock position. Thepassivation layer is absent from the center of the die and the wire ballbond can be seen at the very center of the die still attached to thebond pad. In this particular example, the center portion of thepassivation layer was removed while the die was being de-encapsulatedafter testing.

The passivation layer of the die illustrated in FIG. 1 had delaminatedin the package during testing, and allowed moisture to penetrate beneaththe passivation layer. The resulting delamination reduced the initiallight output of this particular device by about 20%. Subsequently themoisture, which tends to permeate through the epoxy lens of an LED lampand around the leads coming out of the bottom of the lamp package,causes the thin semi-transparent ohmic contact to degrade and eventuallyfail completely. This failure in turn causes the light output tocontinue to fall and eventually increase the forward voltage of thedevice. In the device photographed in FIG. 1, the failure of the contactappears as the dark or rough areas just to the right of the center ofthe die.

FIG. 2 is a magnified view of the die photographed in FIG. 1. FIG. 2illustrates that the glass remaining on the perimeter has broken off ofthe inner mesa of the device and that the p-contact has failed. Thedark, rough appearing areas are positions where the ohmic contact(titanium and gold in this example) has balled up. As best understood,as the contact becomes less compatible with the p-type layer it tends tobead up rather than wet the p-type layer. In turn, as the Ti/Au balls uparound the bond pad, the device slowly becomes disconnected.Furthermore, light is no longer generated in areas where the contactbecomes discontinuous. Because a p-type gallium nitride surface is not agood conductor, and generally exhibits high resistivity, the poorcurrent spreading in the void areas fail to provide a current path whichwould help generate light.

FIG. 3 illustrates a first embodiment of the diode of the invention thatwill withstand high temperature and high humidity conditions. The diodeis generally designated at 10 and includes a silicon carbide substrate11, the production and nature of which are clearly set forth in otherU.S. patents assigned to assignee of this invention, including forexample No. RE 34,861 (formerly U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,005). In preferredembodiments, the silicon carbide substrate is a single crystal selectedfrom the group consisting of the 3C, 4H, 6H, and 15R polytypes ofsilicon carbide, and is n-type.

In preferred embodiments, the LED of the present invention furthercomprises a buffer structure 12 on the silicon carbide substrate 11. Thebuffer structure helps provide a crystalline and mechanical transitionfrom the silicon carbide substrate 11 to the remaining Group III nitrideportions of the device. Appropriate buffer structures are set forth forexample in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,393,993; 5,523,589; 5,592,501; and5,739,554, all of which are commonly assigned with the presentinvention, and each of which is incorporated entirely herein byreference. The diode 10 further comprises an active region 13 of GroupIII nitride heterojunction diode structure formed on the bufferstructure 12. The active region 13 may comprise a singleheterostructure, double heterostructure, single quantum well ormulti-quantum well structure. Examples of such structures are disclosedin co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 09/154,363filed Sep. 16, 1998 for “Vertical Geometry InGaN Light Emitting Diode”which is incorporated entirely herein by reference. As explained by Sze,Physics of Semiconductor Materials, supra at pages 697-700, theheterostructures and quantum wells serve as active regions in whichradiative recombinations lead to light emission.

A p-type Group III nitride contact layer 14 is formed on the activeregion 13. A metal contact 15 is made to the substrate 11 and anothermetal contact 16 is made to the p-type gallium nitride epitaxial layer.Preferably, metal contacts 15 and 16 form ohmic (i.e. non-rectifying)contacts to substrate 11 and contact layer 14 respectively. The ohmiccontact 16 is selected from the group consisting of platinum, palladium,gold, a combination of titanium and gold, a combination of platinum andgold, a combination of titanium, platinum and gold, or a combination ofplatinum and indium tin oxide, and is most preferably formed of platinumor palladium. Nickel (Ni) is a preferred ohmic contact metal to then-type substrate. The device is completed with a passivation layer 17 onthe ohmic contact 16, of which appropriate candidate materials arerecited above, but that is most preferably formed of silicon nitride.

Silicon nitride is preferred over silicon dioxide in particular becauseit forms a better seal over the device, preventing contaminants such aswater from reaching the epitaxial layers of the device and causingdegradation such as is described above. As noted above in the discussionregarding Nakamura's European Published Application No. 0622858, siliconnitride may also be used to form layers that transmit light generatedwithin an LED.

In a most preferred embodiment, the silicon nitride is deposited bymeans of sputtering. Sputtering is a well known technique for depositingthin layers of material in a vacuum or near-vacuum environment. Atechnique for sputtering SiN on microwave transistor structures isdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/771,800 entitled “GroupIII Nitride Based FETs and HEMTs with Reduced Trapping and Method forProducing the Same” filed Jan. 29, 2001, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

FIG. 5 shows a simplified sputtering chamber 100 that can be used todeposit material on a substrate or a device or a device precursor. Inoperation, a semiconductor device 101 is placed on an anode 102. Thechamber 103 is then evacuated and an inert gas 104 such as argon is bledthrough the valve 105 to maintain a background pressure. The cathode 106is made of the material (or a component of the material) to be depositedon the substrate or device. With the application of a high voltagebetween electrodes 107, the inert gas is ionized and the positive ions110 accelerate to the cathode 106. Upon striking the cathode 106, theycollide with the cathode atoms 112, giving them sufficient energy to beejected. The sputtered cathode atoms 112 travel through space,eventually coating the anode 102 and the semiconductor device 101 on it.Other sputtering units can be more complex and detailed, but they workon much the same basic physical mechanisms. Using the more complexsputtering systems, it is possible to sputter and deposit a range ofmetals and dielectric layers.

In a preferred embodiment, cathode 106 is a pure silicon target.Nitrogen is provided for silicon nitride formation by flowing nitrogengas through the sputter chamber 103 along with the inert gas. Becausethe sputtered target material (in this case, silicon) reacts with areaction gas (nitrogen) to form SiN, this form of sputtering is known as“reactive sputtering.”

In a first embodiment, the sputter deposition may be performed at atemperature in excess of 200° C., and most preferably at a temperatureof about 440° C. to maximize encapsulation and produce a more hermeticseal on the device. The pressure of the chamber 103 should be maintainedat less than 20 millitorr (mTorr) and preferably between about 10-20mTorr in a mixed atmosphere of argon and nitrogen gas. The sputter rateshould be maintained at about 45 Å/min, and a total film thickness ofgreater than about 1000 Å should be deposited for optimum encapsulation.In this embodiment, sputtering of silicon nitride may be accomplishedusing an Endeavor sputtering system manufactured by Sputtered Films,Inc. Although the inventors do not wish to be bound by any particulartheory, at this pressure (20 mTorr or less), it is presently believedthat the sputtering process causes substantial ion bombardment damage tothe device. Nevertheless, it is also presently believed that theincreased sputter temperature acts to anneal the ion bombardment damageout of the device.

In this embodiment, the preferred sputtering process includes thespecific steps of pumping down the chamber 103 to a low pressure of lessthan about 20 mTorr, flowing argon gas at a rate of about 40 standardcubic centimeters per minute (sccm), and flowing nitrogen gas flow at arate of about 25 sccm. The temperature of the chamber 103 is raisedabove 200° C. and preferably to about 440° C. An RF power of about 100Wand a DC power of about 700-800 W is applied to the terminals 107 tocreate an ionized plasma. This condition is maintained for about 40minutes to sputter the Si cathode 106. The sputtered silicon reacts withthe nitrogen resulting in deposition of silicon nitride on the wafer.

In an alternative embodiment, the sputter deposition may be performed atroom temperature but at a higher pressure, e.g. between about 80-100mTorr in a mixed Ar/N₂ atmosphere. A pulsed DC power supply should beused to reduce “spitting” and arcing between the sputter electrodes.Using a pulsed DC power supply increases the amount of ion bombardmenton the sputter target, but it has been found that annealing the deviceto remove ion damage is not needed if the sputter is performed at thehigher pressure. It is presently believed that in this embodiment, thepeak ion energy of the sputtered ions is reduced while the ion flux isincreased, resulting in negligible ion bombardment damage whileretaining an acceptable sputter rate. In this embodiment, the sputterrate is preferably maintained at about 50 Å/min, and sputtering may beperformed using a CVC 2800 sputtering system.

In this embodiment, the preferred sputtering process includes thespecific steps of pumping down the chamber 103 to a pressure of about80-100 mTorr, flowing argon gas at a rate of about 80 sccm, and flowingnitrogen gas flow at a rate of about 10 sccm. The temperature of thechamber 103 is kept at room temperature. A pulsed DC voltage having apower of about 100W with a pulse period of about 5 μs and a duty cycleof about 40% is applied to the terminals 107 to create an ionizedplasma. This condition is maintained for about 75 minutes to sputter theSi cathode 106. The sputtered silicon reacts with the nitrogen resultingin deposition of silicon nitride on the wafer.

In either of the foregoing embodiments, the silicon nitride ispreferably deposited as a silicon nitride composition that is slightlysilicon-poor with respect to the stoichiometry of silicon nitride(Si₃N₄). That is, the silicon nitride is preferably deposited in amanner that results in a non-stoichiometric composition. Rather, theproportion of silicon in the film is reduced to enhance lightextraction. The proportion of silicon in the film may be adjusted byincreasing or decreasing the flow of nitrogen gas into the chamber.

Stated differently, as used herein, the term “silicon nitridecomposition” refers to a composition that includes both silicon andnitride, including silicon and nitrogen chemically bonded to oneanother, and potentially including some bonded in the stoichiometricrelationship of Si₃N₄. The composition can also includenon-stoichiometric combinations in which the relationship of some or allof the composition is other than Si₃N₄.

In the present invention, the sputtered silicon nitride composition ispreferred to the conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) method because the sputtering technique avoids introducingundesirable levels of hydrogen into the SiN film. As is known to thoseskilled in the art, hydrogen can passivate Mg-acceptors in a GaN-basedsemiconductor. Although the precise mechanism is not completelyunderstood and the inventors do not wish to be bound by any particulartheory of operation, it is currently understood that when siliconnitride is deposited by means of PECVD at a deposition temperature inexcess of 200° C., hydrogen in the film can diffuse through the thinohmic contact and into the p-type Group III nitride contact layer 14,causing layer 14 to become passivated in a region close to the surfacethereof. That is, in a region near the surface, a substantial number ofacceptor ions are rendered neutral by the introduction of hydrogen inthe film. Accordingly, the interface between the ohmic contact and thenitride material is degraded, and the contact metal does not exhibitideal ohmic characteristics. This can result in an increase in forwardvoltage (V_(F) degradation) in the device. Essentially, the devicebehaves as though the interface between metal 16 and contact layer 14forms a schottky contact instead of an ohmic contact.

In contrast, because it is deposited in a vacuum or near-vacuum,sputtered the silicon nitride composition is believed to besubstantially free of hydrogen impurities. Accordingly, it is alsopreferable to ensure that all parts of the sputter system are clean anddry to avoid any hydrogen contamination. This may require bake-out ofparts prior to sputtering.

In addition, once the LED chip has been manufactured and diced, it isnecessary to mount the chip in a lamp package, as described in moredetail below. The process of packaging a chip often results in the chipbeing exposed to high temperatures for a period of time. The chip canalso be exposed to high temperatures during subsequent operation. In achip on which silicon nitride has been deposited using the PECVD method,such exposure can result in an increase in forward voltage over time(V_(F) degradation). It is presently understood that this voltageincrease results from the diffusion of hydrogen from the silicon nitridepassivation layer 17 into the Mg-doped contact layer 14. By depositingthe silicon nitride composition layer using a sputtering technique(resulting in sputter-deposited silicon nitride composition), theresulting degradation is substantially reduced or eliminated.

If PECVD deposition is unavoidable, it is possible to compensatesomewhat for the V_(F) degradation by doping the Mg-doped contact layer14 at a higher doping level in order to offset the passivation caused byhydrogen diffusion. However, increasing the doping level of Mg incontact layer 14 can have a detrimental effect on the device byimpairing crystal quality and surface morphology in the Mg-doped layer14.

FIG. 6 is a plot of V_(F) versus anneal temperature for an LED dieprocessed with PECVD silicon nitride deposition on the one hand and thesputtered silicon nitride composition on the other. The LED die weremanufactured by depositing epitaxial layers on a silicon carbidesubstrate. The substrate was then sawed in half. A silicon nitridepassivation layer was deposited on each half of the wafer. PECVDdeposition was used to deposit the silicon nitirde passivation layer onone half of the wafer, and the high-temperature sputtering processdescribed above was used to deposit the silicon nitride compositionpassivation layer on the other half of the wafer. The remainder of theLED fabrication process was conventional, and LED die were fabricatedfrom each half of the wafer. Five die having sputtered silicon nitridecomposition and three die having PECVD-deposited silicon nitridepassivation layers were subjected to annealing in a rapid thermal annealchamber for five minutes at an anneal temperature of 250° C. The forwardvoltage of each die was measured before and after the anneal. The diewere then subjected to a subsequent anneal for five minutes at an annealtemperature of 290° C. The forward voltage of each die was measuredafter the subsequent anneal. The average results from these tests areplotted in FIG. 6. As can be seen in FIG. 6, LEDs on which siliconnitride was deposited using PECVD exhibited an average V_(F) increase ofjust over 0.1V after being annealed for five minutes at 250° C., whileLEDs on which the silicon nitride composition was sputter depositedshowed a slight reduction (i.e. improvement) in V_(F). LEDs on whichsilicon nitride was deposited using PECVD exhibited an average V_(F)increase of over 0.7V after being annealed for five minutes at 290° C.,while LEDs on which the silicon nitride composition was sputterdeposited showed a reduction in V_(F) of almost 0.1V after beingannealed for five minutes at 290° C.

Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention includes a method ofmanufacturing a light emitting diode comprising the steps of: forming abuffer layer on a substrate, forming an active region on the bufferlayer, forming a p-type contact layer on the active region, forming ametal contact on the contact layer, and sputter-depositing a siliconnitride composition passivation layer on the metal contact. Preferably,the substrate is a conductive, single crystal silicon carbide substrate,the contact layer comprises Mg-doped GaN and the metal contact comprisesplatinum.

In the most preferred embodiment, the heterostructure diode is singleheterostructure, double heterostructure, single quantum well ormulti-quantum well structure such as described in the previouslyincorporated U.S. application Ser. No. 09/154,363 filed Sep. 16, 1998for “Vertical Geometry InGaN Light Emitting Diode.”

Table 1 summarizes these ohmic contact materials in terms of theirsuitability for devices according to the claimed invention. In therating scale used in Table 1, “A” refers to superior characteristics,while “C” refers to generally weak characteristics. TABLE 1 Contact

Property⇓ Pt Pd Au Ti/Au Pt/Au Ti/Pt/Au Pt/ITO Ohmic A A B B A B ACharacteristics Minimal B B A A A B A Absorption Transparency B B A A AB A Current Spreading B B A A A A A Adhesion of the A A B B B B APassivation Layer at 85/85/10 Chemical Stability A B B C B B B

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in preferred embodiments the ohmic contact 16covers a substantial portion of the p-type gallium nitride contact layer14 to encourage current spreading across the p-type gallium nitridecontact layer 14. Because it covers the light emitting portions of thedevice, the ohmic contact 16 is preferably thin enough to besemi-transparent. Sze, Physics of semiconductor Materials, supra at page700, explains that epitaxial layers, such as the contact layer 14, mayhave a bandgap that is large enough to transmit, rather than absorb,light emanating from the active region 13. The semi-transparent ohmiccontact transmits light, therefore, that originates within the activelayer 13 and passes through the p-type contact layer 14.

The diodes illustrated in FIG. 3 can be used in a number of specificapplications. One useful application is as a display, typically referredto as “numeric” or “alphanumeric” displays, although certainly notlimited to such, that incorporate a plurality of the light emittingdiodes according to the invention. An exemplary display is shown in FIG.7. In this display, blue emitting diodes according to the presentinvention are incorporated with red and green LEDs to formred-green-blue (“RGB”) pixels. FIG. 7 shows one pixel (30) out of atypical display and enlarges that pixel to illustrate the use of red(31), green (32), and blue (33) diodes in a standard pixel. Because suchpixels individually produce the three primary colors, they have thecapability to produce almost all colors visible to the human eye.

In other applications, diodes such as the diode 10 illustrated in FIG. 3are incorporated into LED lamps. FIG. 4 accordingly illustrates oneversion of such a typical lamp. It will understood, of course, that FIG.4 is simply exemplary of the type of lamp structure that can be used toincorporate a diode according to the present and is in no sense limitingof the type of lamp with which the diode of the invention can be used.

In FIG. 4, the lamp 20 includes the diode 10 according to the inventionencapsulated in a plastic (i.e., polymeric) lens 21. The plasticmaterial for the lens can be selected from a wide variety of polymericmaterials that are well known to those of ordinary skill in this art andwithout undue experimentation. In many circumstances, the lens 21 isformed of an epoxy resin. The lamp 20 further comprises a metal leadframe 22 for electrically connecting the lamp to other electroniccircuit elements. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the metal lead frame 22incorporates the anode 23 and the cathode 24.

As in the diode embodiment of the invention, a plurality of the lamps 20can be incorporated to form an appropriate display device. Inparticular, because gallium nitride devices of this type emit in theblue portion of the visible spectrurn, lamps such as those according tothe present invention can be advantageously incorporated along with redand green LED lamps to form a full color display. Examples of suchdisplays are set forth in for example, co-pending and commonly assignedapplications Ser. No. 09/057,838, which is a divisional of 08/580,771,filed Dec. 29, 1995, for “True Color Flat Panel Display Module;” andU.S. Pat. No. 5,812,105 issued on Sep. 22, 1998 for “LED Dot MatrixDrive Method and Apparatus.”

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typicalembodiments of the invention, and, although specific terms have beenemployed, they have been used in a generic and descriptive sense onlyand not for purposes of limitation, scope of the invention being setforth in the following claims.

1. A method of manufacturing a light emitting diode comprising: forming a buffer layer on a substrate; forming an active region on the buffer layer; forming a p-type contact layer on the active region; forming a metal contact on the contact layer; and sputter-depositing a layer of a silicon nitride composition on the metal contact.
 2. A method according to claim 1 comprising forming the contact layer from Mg-doped GaN.
 3. A method according to claim 1 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at a temperature greater than 200° C.
 4. A method according to claim 1 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition at a temperature greater than 400° C.
 5. A method according to claim 1 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition at a sputter rate of about 45 Å/min.
 6. A method according to claim 1 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition layer to a thickness of about 1000 Å thick.
 7. A method according to claim 1 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at an ambient pressure of less than about 20 mTorr.
 8. A method according to claim 1 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at an ambient pressure of about 10-20 mTorr.
 9. A method according to claim 1 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at an ambient pressure of about 80-100 mTorr.
 10. A method according to claim 1 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at room temperature and at an ambient pressure of about 80-100 mTorr.
 11. A method according to claim 1 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer using a pulsed DC power supply.
 12. A method according to claim 1 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition layer to a thickness of about 1000 Å.
 13. A method of forming a vertically conductive light emitting diode, comprising: forming an ohmic contact on a first surface of a silicon carbide substrate; forming a buffer structure on the second surface of the substrate; forming a Group III nitride, light emitting active region on the buffer structure; forming a light transmissive, p-type Group III nitride contact layer on the active region; forming a light transmissive metal contact on said contact layer; and sputter depositing a light transmissive silicon nitride passivation layer on the metal contact such that light generated in the active region emits through the contact layer, the metal contact, and the passivation layer.
 14. A method of forming a vertically conductive light emitting diode according to claim 13, wherein the step of sputter depositing the silicon nitride passivation layer comprises: placing the light emitting diode into a sputter chamber having a silicon source and a nitrogen source; maintaining the amount of nitrogen within the chamber at a sufficiently high level to react with the silicon and form a nonstoichiometric silicon nitride composition in which the nitrogen content is greater than the silicon content; depositing the silicon nitride composition onto the light emitting diode to form a passivation layer on the metal contact.
 15. A method according to claim 13 comprising forming the contact layer from Mg-doped GaN.
 16. A method according to claim 13 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at a temperature greater than 200° C.
 17. A method according to claim 13 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition at a temperature greater than 400° C.
 18. A method according to claim 13 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition at a sputter rate of about 45 Å/min.
 19. A method according to claim 13 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition layer to a thickness of about 1000 Å thick.
 20. A method according to claim 13 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at an ambient pressure of less than about 20 mTorr.
 21. A method according to claim 13 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at an ambient pressure of about 10-20 mTorr.
 22. A method according to claim 13 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at an ambient pressure of about 80-100 mTorr.
 23. A method according to claim 13 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer at room temperature and at an ambient pressure of about 80-100 mTorr.
 24. A method according to claim 13 comprising sputter depositing the silicon nitride composition layer using a pulsed DC power supply.
 25. A method according to claim 13 comprising depositing the silicon nitride composition layer to a thickness of about 1000 Å. 